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TRENTINO, Italy (CIS) – Canada had its best day of the 26th Winter Universiade on Thursday with three medals, including a pair of silver in short track speed skating and a bronze in men’s curling.

The red and white delegation had picked up its first podium finish of the Games on Wednesday with a bronze in short track and has two more days to add to its tally.

On Friday, the Canadian women’s hockey team goes for its third straight FISU gold, the men’s hockey squad battles Russia in the semifinals (live at 10:30 a.m. EST on www.fisu.tv<http://www.fisu.tv> ), while the short track competition concludes with the individual 1000-metre events and the men’s relay final.

In short track on Thursday, Caroline Truchon of Saguenay, Que., and Patrick Duffy of Oakville, Ont., claimed silver in the 500m as Canada also set a pair of Universiade records.

Truchon was solid from start to finish on her way to the podium, taking second place in her heat (46.516) before winning her quarter-final (44.611) and semifinal (45.092). In the championship race, the Collège de Rosemont student crossed the line in 44.834 seconds, just behind China’s Xue Wang (44.713) and Agne Sereikaite of Lithuania (45.044).

“I’m really happy. Things didn’t start too well because I broke my blades in my first race, but I was still able to advance to the next round,” said Truchon. “After that, everything went smoothly. I felt really good and I kind of cruised to the final.

“In the final, I had a great start to take second place. I thought about passing the leader but she skated a very good defensive race so I thought it would be smarter to protect my position instead of risking to lose it all.”

Duffy, a Concordia University student, not only won his first four sprints of the day en route to the final, he clocked 41.433 in the heats to register a new FISU Games record. His mark would only stand for an hour however as Lee Hyo Been, the eventual gold-medal winner from South Korea, posted a time of 41.383 in the semis.

In the final, Hyo Been crossed the line in 41.642, followed by Duffy (41.917) and Shi Jingnan of China (42.025).

“I was a bit nervous before the final. There were a lot of big guys on the line,” Duffy said. “I kind of blacked out during the race so I can’t really tell you what happened but I came away with second place, so it’s fantastic.”

The relay semifinals followed the 500m individual races and the two Canadians teams obtained opposite results, with the men qualifying for the A final in Universiade record time and the women settling for third place in their group and a spot in the B final.

Meanwhile, the women’s squad of Truchon, Vicky Labourdette of Greenfield Park, Que., Keri Morrison of Burlington, Ont., and Namasthée Harris-Gauthier of Montreal finished with a solid time of 4:13.605 on 3000m but couldn’t quite catch the Hungarian Olympic team, which set a new FISU Games standard of 4:13.353, and China (4:13.446).

In men’s curling, Canada rebounded from a tough 7-4 loss to Great Britain in the morning semifinals to edge Norway 6-5 in an extra end in the afternoon bronze-medal match.

Skip Brendan Bottcher of Sherwood Park, Alta., and his University of Alberta squad of Mick Lizmore (third), Brad Thiessen (second) and Karrick Martin (lead), all from Edmonton, as well as alternate Parker Konschuh of Sundre, Alta., won a see-saw game that saw both teams scoring with hammer.

Bottcher stole a point in the ninth end to go up 5-4, held his rivals to a single in the 10th to force the extra end, and then scored in the 11th to secure Canada’s first podium finish in men’s curling at the biennial event since a gold-medal triumph at the inaugural FISU tournament in 2003.

The Canucks had placed fifth two years ago in Erzurum, Turkey.

“It’s definitely a big accomplishment to come here and win a medal! We had a rough start to the day, losing this morning, but I’m proud of the guys for coming back and winning a bronze medal,” said Bottcher, the 2012 junior world champion who triumphed on the day of its 22nd birthday. “The game itself was a back-and-forth the entire way, staying at singles. In the ninth, we got aggressive, got the steal to tie it and in the 11th, there was a draw to the four foot for the win and we made it.”

Canada also competed in snowboarding, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing on Thursday.

In snowboarding, Megan Farrell of Richmond Hill, Ont., reached the 1/8 finals in the women’s parallel giant slalom thanks to her combined time of 1:37.11 in the qualification runs. The Queen’s University student then lost her duel against Switzerland’s Patrizia Kummer to end up in 14th place overall.

In alpine skiing, six Canadians took the start in the men’s giant slalom but only Simon-Claude Toutant of Montreal finished both runs. The Laval University student placed 33rd in 1:39.74.

In cross-country skiing, Kendra Murray of Whitehorse, Myriam Paquette of St. Bruno de Montarville, Que., and Andrea Lee of Black Creek, B.C., finished 13th in the women’s 3x5 km relay with a time of 47:33.6.

In the men’s 4x10 km, Jordan Cascagnette of Penetanguishene, Ont., Peter Beisel of Owen Sound, Ont., Lee Hawkings of Whitehorse and Matthias Purdon of Owen Sound were 16th in 1:52:32.3.